Friday, April 14, 2017

Dot wouldn't settle down this morning, so I skipped going out to breakfast. I don't know what has changed, but she is more active now after we return from our morning walk. It's a good thing I stayed home, because she needed to go outside to pee twice while I was sitting in the kitchen eating my frozen toaster waffle. I walked her around half a dozen times before she finally settled down around 10 AM.

While I was waiting for Dot to go back to sleep, there was a knock on the door. The roofers had arrived. I wasn't expecting the roofers at all today. Truthfully, I wasn't even expecting them this month, so it was somewhat of a happy accident that I decided to stay home this morning. I went up on the roof with the crew to show them where the damaged areas were. There was still water on the roof, but the guys said they would blow it away with a leaf blower before they made their repairs. I would have picked a sunny day to come out, but beggars can't be choosers. I was glad they were here.

The repairs only took a couple of hours and then the roofers were gone again. I was a little worried that it would rain this afternoon before the patched areas had completely dried, but the skies cleared and the temperature got warmer as the day progressed. I think the patches will have plenty of time to cure properly and maybe I won't have to worry about leaks again for the rest of the Summer.

Dash has started throwing up again. This has happened periodically for years. I take him to the vet and they can never find anything wrong. They either tell me to give him a Pepcid, or if he vomits more than once they prescribe some Cerenia. Usually this takes care of the problem. I used to think that Dash had just eaten something bad in the park, but this has been going on so long that I now suspect that there is something else involved. Intermittent problems like this are very hard to diagnose. I'll talk to Dash's oncologist the next time we go in for a check up, but I think he just suggested taking a Pepcid too.

Since Dot has switched her nap time to the afternoon, I waited until she was asleep to go to the store and pick up something for dinner. On my way to Central Market I stopped by my doctor's office to ask why I was no longer receiving reminders to come in for lab work. I used to get lab work done every three months, but the nurse I talked to today told me that Medicare will now only cover once set of labs per year. Did I really ever need the extra blood tests when the doctor was able to bill them out? I'll never really know. Maybe once a year is enough, but I'd have a blood test every week if I could. Frequent tests allow you to chart the results and see if a change in diet or meds is making a difference. Once a year isn't really enough. An annual test will warn you if something really alarming is happening, but it doesn't let you monitor subtle changes. The neighborhood health food store used to offer low cost blood tests several times a year. The tests only cost $25 and I would always take advantage of them. It was really disappointing when one of the guys administering these tests unexpectedly died of a heart attack and the testing service was discontinued. The fact that these $25 tests went to the same lab as the $400 tests my own doctor gave me told me everything I needed to know about the health care system. As soon as insurance gets involved, things suddenly get very expensive.

The dogs are both quiet now. Nobody is pooping or throwing up. I hope it stays that way. Whenever Dot and Dash are having problems at the same time, I realize that one high maintenance dog is really all I can handle. I'm glad the roofers finally made good on their promise. That's one more thing I can cross off my list. Now, I just need to get the landscapers to come out and take care of the back yard.

About Me

John Sealander received a Bachelor of Architecture and a BA in Art from
The University of Arkansas. His rich and diverse experience includes
working as an architectural designer for Fred Bassetti in Seattle,
producing documentary films for PBS, shooting commercial photography
for True Redd’s “Great Shooting Gallery” in Dallas and teaching writing
courses at SMU’s Academy of Visual Communication. For over 35 years,
John has developed memorable and award winning ads and images for some
of the world’s leading ad agencies and most popular brands. In 1990 he
started Sealander & Company, the Dallas, Texas based production
company and multi-media agency where he continues to develop his ideas
today.